Din Tai Fung - Torrance, CA

There are a number of posts, largely in xiao long bao-related threads, about this place. Based in Taiwan, it now has at least five venues open in the LA area. Home for Thanksgiving, we dropped into the one in Del Amo Plaza in Torrance. Bottom line: good overpriced food. The bao were prettier than they tasted and small with even smaller fillings. All of the food--scratch that--most of the food was quite good, but $110 for three people before tip is not justifiable.

Here's a photographic journey with a few comments:

Entryway

Watch them make the bao!

Cucumber saladEnjoyable but no more.

House chicken soup"Had" to order this because Jonathan Gold said it's the best he's ever had. If that's the case, Mr. Gold needs to get out more. Perfectly fine but I've had better more than a few times.

Sauteed spinachSurprisingly good. Very delicate; garlic was exactly right...there, but not a hint of bitterness, noticeable but not overpowering. Would definitely order again.

Truffle and pork XLBComparisons to a certain Mr. Achatz's truffle explosion notwithstanding, this was (a) small, (b) fairly attenuated truffle flavor, (c) more shell than filling to the point of being offputting. And at $23.50, way overpriced.

Shanghai rice cake with shrimpSee them shrimp? They are the only ones in the entire dish. WAY too much rice cake, WAY too few shrimp. That said, nicely flavored and otherwise enjoyable.

Sticky rice wrap with porkNot my thing but well done. Pork was excellent, though it would have been nice if there had been more pork and a bit less rice.

Sticky rice opened

Shrimp and pork wonton with spicy sauceEnjoyable, though a bit sweet to my taste. And surprisingly un-spicy for something advertised as spicy. The test is the Lovely Dining Companion's palate. She cannot handle spicy. Period. She ate this without complaint; if it's not too hot for her, it's not spicy.

Crab and pork XLBThe table agreed: for whatever reason, the crab and pork did not complement each other at all. The amount of filling was dismayingly small and the flavor(s) just didn't work--for anyone.

All in all, glad I've been. Enough of the food was good that I'd return to try other things, but for the price, not remotely a good value. Disappointing.

Hit the Din Tai Fung in Glendale a few weeks back. B+ food and good service. Place has a really corporate chain feel, which kinda put a damper on things, but knew that going in. I didn't feel like they gouged as much as they could, price-wise.